


You Can Be My Shelter

by Passion_fruit_fashion



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Bird/Human Hybrids, Bunny/Human Hybrids, Cat Hybrid GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Cat/Human Hybrids, Catboys & Catgirls, Dog/Human Hybrids, Dream is just trying his best while George tries to find a new normal, Eventual Happy Ending, Healthy relationship building and hella consent, Honestly everyone on the dream smp will make an appearance at one point in the story, How Do I Tag, Human Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid Georgenotfound, Hybrids, Injury Recovery, M/M, Minor Violence, Recovery, normalized consent in daily practice, not just in explicit situations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:01:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29689203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Passion_fruit_fashion/pseuds/Passion_fruit_fashion
Summary: Dream was living his best life, streaming on the weekends to a rapidly growing audience, and working at a local hybrid shelter during the weekdays helping those that need it. All together a fulfilling existence with little to no issues. He could have never predicted that one fateful encounter with a certain hybrid would change his life forever.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 198
Collections: ☆ ;; 𝐃𝐍𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 [디엔에프]





	1. Weathered

Dream would say he’s been having a successful and fulfilling life so far. Spending his days working at the local hybrid rehabilitation/rehoming shelter during the weekdays, and streaming to his amazing audience on the weekends, making more than enough money to live comfortably and enjoy the small things in life. He would even go so far as to say he wouldn't have it any other way.

Looking back on his past, Dream can’t really recall a time where he didn’t want to spend his time helping others and making their day just a little bit better than what it once was, so it didn’t come as a shock to anyone when he decided to pursue a degree that was directed towards that Goal. What _was_ surprising was the fact that he decided to specialize in the healthcare of hybrids, he would even go as far as to say that his family never even saw it coming. Especially given the fact that he never really showed an interest in hybrids previous to this decision, which to be fair he never really did speak on the topic aloud. Hybrids were something that the blonde always struggled to understand the concept of, not so much about the hybrids themselves, but how society saw them. People seemed to act as though hybrids were nothing more than pets in some instances, as though they weren't as intelligent as humans. which in his opinion was absolute bullshit, the few hybrids that he had a run in with when he was younger were absolutely as smart as humans. Dream always detested how they were treated as a lesser species, which was a big contributor to where is choice in career went.

His family was of course supportive of his decision, though he suspects this was due to the fact that he could theoretically get a job in his profession nearly anywhere due to the popularity of owning a hybrid nowadays. Hybrids themselves were a fairly common sight in his city and were still growing in popularity, with the most common hybrids being the traditional household pets. Dog and cat hybrids ranking as the most popular, followed closely behind by bunnies, small rodent species, and birds. 

When Dream eventually got his degree, he started his job at a shelter the week after graduating. 

Knowing that he would probably do the most good in a place that tends to be overlooked, he decided on a local shelter near his neighborhood. It was about a 20 minutes drive away from his home. When he initially started at the shelter, he had no real world application of working with hybrids, So there was absolutely a learning curve towards the start of his career, but after a few months he was able to adapt to the new environment and make friends with his co-workers along the way. One of his closest friends was the primary manager of the shelter, who went by Bad. Hilariously enough Bad didn’t even have the weirdest name to go by amongst his co-workers, It ended up becoming a trend at the shelter to go by nicknames rather than actual names, aiming to create a more lighthearted atmosphere.

Things tended to be easy and calm for the most part, with the most hectic semi-daily disturbances primarily being contributed to adoptions at the shelter, or reaching milestones through his online career as he grew. However, every now and then the local hybrid division of the police would conduct a raid, usually on a singular household, but every few years they hit a stroke of good luck and would bring down an organized ring. The hybrids that they rescue from those raids go over to the hospital, a sister shelter, or to the shelter he worked at. And as fate would have it, Dream gets a phone call that very night.   
  
  


The cold wind was nipping at Dream’s nose as he made the short trip to the entrance of the shelter. It had snowed on and off the past few days, adding to the ever present cold of the season. As he approached the sliding doors, Dream started stomping off the slush from the parking lot. The light from inside the building gave off a dim warm light, scattering across the concrete of the sidewalk just outside. The doors opened swiftly as Dream made his way inside, and immediately the tone of the noise shifted from silent to loud and bustling. As Dream scanned the area he noticed that nearly everybody who worked in the medical and standard care wings of the shelter were present, which was likely, given the size of the breeding ring that the police busted. He got the call at around 11pm. It was Bad calling from the shelter detailing the events of a bust that happened in the downtown area of the city. Apparently there were so many hybrids present at the raid site that they had to be dispersed across two different shelters and the hospital. Thankfully he was awake when he got the call so he was able to quickly react and get to his car with relative haste, which was fortunate given the weather forcing him to take the drive slower than he wanted to admit. 

He immediately spotted Niki and Punz hunched over a clip board and decided to head over to them first to get an idea of the scope of situation that he would be thrust into for the foreseeable future. As soon as he stepped in their direction Niki noticed his approach and waved him over.  
“Dream hey! Ok so most of the hybrids that needed more intensive care were taken to the hospital but we still have some patients that aren’t doing as well as I would like so I’m going to give you some of those ones to check up on first.” she said while handing off the papers of the hybrids he was meant to care for. “Alright sounds good, page me on the intercom if you need me. I’ll get started right away, the sooner we can get everybody comfortable the better.” Dream replied, getting a nod of acknowledgment from the pink haired co-worker as he headed in the direction of the quarantine rooms. As Dream made his way down to his assigned rooms he caught sight of Bad heading his direction at nearly a run, “Oh my goodness you’re here! Have you already been assigned some people?” bad rushed out. 

“Yeah Niki got me set up with a few. I’m headed over to my first patient now.” Dream replied. “Ok cool, I’ll let you get to that then. I’ll be coordinating the food situation if you need me.” Bad stated before darting off towards the communal part of the building. Dream started walking once more until he got to the door of his first patient, “alright let's get down to business then” he muttered before stretching his arm and opening the door to the room, stepping in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of world building!  
> -1 in 40 households own a hybrid, and there has slowly been an increase in demand for hybrids as the years go on.  
> -there are absolutely activist groups working towards giving equal rights to hybrids, this will come into play a little further on in the story.  
> \- hybrids were created in a lab initially, and the practice was/is still now extremely restricted to only the top scientists of the field and highly regulated, so all other hybrids other than the first originators are born through normal breeding/procreating. the concept of hybrids in the lab is close to legend at this point with only a handful of hybrids nowadays coming from this source to ensure that lineages don't pull a "purist royalty family".  
> -hybrids unfortunately don't have many rights, they currently have a status akin to an actual pet, if slightly higher.  
> there are however much stricter rules and guidelines to follow to maintain the safety of a hybrid, such as registering all hybrids under their owner and annual health screenings of a hybrid to ensure that said hybrid is healthy.  
> -there are also organizations that conduct welfare checks when called. and any hybrid abuse is punishable by law.  
> -in this specific world there aren't heats in the sense that other fics have (sorry if that's what you were looking for but I would die if I had to write that in lmao) however there are still secondary genders, though not prominent in any other way than procreation and minor behaviors.  
> -humans and hybrids cannot make a kid, and hybrids are only able to if they are of the same species.
> 
> if you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments :D


	2. Frigid First Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the feral boy!  
> The moment you've been waiting for!  
> Here comes the feral boy!  
> The Pride of this fanfic!  
> Here comes the feral boy!  
> George Washington!(NotFound)  
> -Abridged Hamilton Quote

It takes a little over an hour but he's eventually able to get through all of his patients. For the most part they were all cooperative and willing to be treated with no issues, but there were a few of them that were extremely adverse to any contact. Understandably and rightfully so, considering what they’d been through. But thankfully they warmed enough to him to be treated for any injuries they had sustained. Dream exhaled as he exited one of the rooms, he knew it was going to be chaos when he was driving over but damn did he underestimate the severe damage that these raids brought to the light. So many of the hybrids he had been tasked to care for were in various states of shock, terrified out of their minds to the point of reckless obedience. The fact that people were able to turn a blind eye to this kind of torment and abuse just for a quick cash grab disgusted him to the core.

He takes a moment to clear his mind and fall back into his working mindset, and heads back towards the second hybrid he was tasked to care for on his list. As he entered the room he put on a smile, the small bunny hybrid jolts up when she hears the door swing back. “Hello again, I was just checking in and making sure you’re still doing ok, anything hurt?” He gently asks the hybrid. 

She responds by quickly shaking her head rather than speaking, there seemed to be a trend on that behavior. Only two of the hybrids he’s been working with have spoken to him, otherwise they communicated with him non-verbally. Usually through nods or head shakes, gestures if he was lucky. He continued on by asking the hybrid if she needed anything, such as food and water, to which she denied. He knew not to push her to eat anything right now, and let her take things at her own pace. Afterwards he started taking her levels, confirming to himself that they were evening to normal rather than spiking out of control.

  


Just as he was finishing up with checking her vitals, the intercom came to life.  
“Dream if I could have you come to quarantine room number 8 please, thank you!” Bad’s voice announced. Dream paused for a second, it was weird that Bad was already back in the medical wing of the building. He would have thought that Bad would still be working with the kitchen crew to set up a meal plan for the new arrivals. At that thought, he picks up the pace to room 8. 

When he gets to the room’s door he sees Bad, Niki, and Punz all crowded around the front along with two other co-workers. The fact that so many people were in one spot during a full house like this immediately set off a huge red flag that something was wrong, so he jogs the last few feet to speed things up a bit. “Hey, everything ok? Why the crowd?”.

“Dream! Ok so we have a bit of an issue.” Bad exclaims while fidgeting with a clipboard. “ s-so uh, basically the hybrid in this room is fighting everything we’ve been trying to do to help. It even got bad enough that punz was bitten.”

As Bad says this, Punz raises his injured hand, covered in a bandage wrap. Dream winces in sympathy. “It was my fault, I tried to calm him down by putting my hand on his shoulder, not really thinking about the consequences. ” Punz utters calmly. “We’ve tried everything we could think of, but nobody is getting through to him to be able to help him.” Bad sighs “at this point we might have to sedate him to at the very least check his injuries and work towards fixing them. Even if it costs us some trust.” Bad says as he looks down uncomfortably. And Dream can understand why, if they go the sedation route, this hybrid will have no trust towards them whatsoever for violating his boundaries. It would be a surefire way to lose any faith that the hybrid might have had for them.

“If possible I'd like to avoid that at all costs, but why call me? I don’t have any specialized training for treating hybrids with behaviors like this so I feel like his response would be the same to me, right?” He asks confusedly. To which at this point Niki speaks up, “I was actually the one who wanted to call you over, remember a few months ago when that dog hybrid came in and wouldn’t let anyone near him when he slept? but you somehow managed to make him feel safe enough to do so around you? you're good at connecting with everyone, even hybrids, and I felt that if he was going to trust anyone here, then it would be you.” At this Dream hesitantly pauses, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Especially if this hybrid has any major injuries that need to be treated as quickly as possible.

  


He looked to the door, wondering what he should expect when he enters. With a nod to himself, he steeled his resolve and looked back to Niki. “Ok, I’ll see if I can get through to him. What do we know about him so far? A name? Age?” He asks. “Unfortunately we don’t have much of anything, he won’t speak. Just exhibited aggressive and frightened behavior so far, he looks like he’s around early twenties though if that helps, a cat hybrid as well.” Niki softly explains. Alright, so he has to go in mostly blind it seems, which he can work with. After all, more than half of his other patients today had the same levels of information to work with. Dream took a deep breath in and turned towards the door, once again preparing himself like he did at the start of this shift, and glances over to his friends. “Alright let’s see how this goes, wish me luck.” As he says this they all speak in various degrees of unity “good luck”. He reaches out and takes the handle to the door. Turning it slowly and pushing it gently open.

  


as the door swung open, the first thing he noticed was the fact that the bed was empty. As he stepped inside he scanned the room, He wasn't able to see the hybrid. The sheets were crumpled up at the edge of the bed with some of the comforter hanging down onto the floor. He walked a little bit further into the room and kept his eyes on the space below the bed, guessing that the hybrid had most likely hid underneath while they were talking. He gently closed the door behind himself and backed up against it to give more space between the hybrid and himself, when he looked back towards the bed he caught a glimpse of a slim chocolate brown tail tip slip further under the bed and out of sight. Dream slowly took a breath in and then back out, deciding that the best option would probably be to sit down and get at the same level as the hybrid but at a distance. He wanted to make sure that the hybrid didn't feel cornered.

As he slid downwards he heard a small stuttered intake of breath, along with something hitting the wall with a small thud. As he glanced under the bed he saw a lithe framed cat hybrid, pupils blown wide in panic curled up in the corner of the space. His breathing was labored and his left ear was constantly twitching backwards as though it was causing him discomfort. He had chocolatey brown hair that matched the tail he saw earlier, with eyes of the same color. Dream took a moment to look the hybrid over, both for injuries and to finally get a clear view of who he would be working with for most likely the rest of his shift. As he was cataloging the hybrid’s injuries, the small framed boy sharply glanced to the side in discomfort. Causing the dirty blond to realize that maybe staring down the blatantly frightened hybrid wasn’t the best way to go about things.

Dream cleared his throat while he laid down on his side next to the door. “Hey, buddy. My name is Dream, I’m gonna be helping you out for the rest of today ok? I just want to make sure that you’re ok and not hurting any longer than you have to be alright?” He murmured, soft enough that the average human probably wouldn’t have heard more than mumbles. But Dream knew the cat hybrid had heard him. Not only were cat hybrids well known for their excellent hearing, the way that he tensed up when Dream started speaking was also a good indication that his words didn’t fall on deaf ears. 

  


After a few minutes of complete silence, he knew the hybrid was going to act as though Dream hadn’t spoken at all. So Dream opted for the next best option.  
“You want to hear about a ridiculous thing that happened to me yesterday?”


	3. Thawed by Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> finally the show begins :)
> 
> /// **This chapter has minor descriptions of injuries and bad health so be wary of that** ///

“You want to hear about a ridiculous thing that happened to me yesterday?” Dream blurted out, causing the hybrid to slightly jolt at the sudden shift in tone. Dream internally face palmed at the slip up, hoping that he didn’t spook the guy too much.

“Well ok I might have to go back a little further in time to explain why this was so funny. So about a month ago I went to a coffee shop that’s roughly a five minute walk from my house. I want to say that this was probably about 2 in the morning. This shop has these amazing cinnamon jelly bagels, and I'll be honest I had a bit of an addiction to them so I went there frequently. Essentially what happened is that as I went to turn the corner to go inside, I crashed into this woman. somehow I ended up popping the lid of her coffee cup, covering both of us in coffee. I was so mortified at what had happened that I kind of panicked my way out of the situation.” he said as he hid his face in his hands.

“I remember profusely apologizing and giving her my hoodie along with the money I had brought with me and then bolting back home.” Dream glanced over towards the bed to see if the story was capturing the hybrid’s attention at all, and noticed that the brunette did seem to be visibly calmer, pressing into the wall much less than what he was originally. Dream silently celebrated at the small win, continuing the story without pause.

  


“That's the background information for the story, this is where the part about yesterday actually comes into play. So after that whole embarrassing situation I kind of stopped going to the coffee shop for a little bit, but started going back a little less than a week ago. And while I was waiting in line I heard someone behind me gasp and go ‘It’s you! the coffee bandit!’ and I turned around to find none other than the girl that I spilled that coffee on.” Dream glanced over to the bed and saw he still had the attention of the hybrid so he continued on. “ She apparently had been referring to me as ‘coffee bandit ' because the hoodie I had given her had a little attached mask that looks a lot like the bandanas that bandits wore in those old western movies. And I guess she even went the extra mile to make these themed ‘wanted posters’ with a crude drawing of what she remembered me looking like, because like an idiot I had forgotten that I had a ring in the pocket of the hoodie that my grandmother wanted me to deliver to my mom.” he finishes as he smiles and looks back over to the boy.

The hybrid was watching intently, cautious but semi relaxed. As Dream looked him over he noticed that the collar around the hybrid seemed to be digging into his neck, this brought Dream back to why he was sitting here in the first place. the material seemed to be rubbing the skin underneath raw, and there was definitely a risk that the damage could be worse. So with that in mind Dream sat up straighter and decided to test his luck. “Would it be alright if I took off that collar? You don't need to wear it while you’re here, whoever put that on you won’t be coming anywhere near you anymore.” he gently spoke out while trying to embody a calm demeanor. 

  


The hybrid immediately and without hesitation drew his walls back up and went on guard. He looked as though he was expecting Dream to try and force the hybrid into cooperation, which shattered the blonde’s heart. 

He watched Dream for a moment waiting for Dream to make a move towards him, but when Dream made no effort to come closer, the hybrid slowly eased to a more relaxed state. “I won't touch you unless you’re ok with it, don't worry. But I'm also not going to leave you here until I know you aren't in pain. Those injuries could easily get infected, if they aren't already.” dream says as he shifts into a crisscross on the floor. “All I want to do is clean up those cuts and make sure you’re ok, I promise.” he finishes, waiting to see if he can get a response from the boy.

The hybrid boy seemed to flitter through a range of emotions before ultimately settling on what seemed to be resignation. He shifted his weight onto his arms before shuffling out from under the bed. All the while keeping a close eye on Dream as he moved further into the open area of the room. As he moved closer to the blonde, Dream noticed that he was intentionally not twisting his torso, wincing every now and again as he moved. Dream takes that info and stores it to check on later. 

  


Now that the brunette was out in the light Dream got a more complete idea of what he was working with, the hybrid was wearing torn faded clothing that looked twice his size. There's bruising all across his right forearm and he didn't seem to have any foot protection, resulting in visible calluses . There’s some heavy scarring on his ankles, and the collar upon closer inspection seems to have dug into the skin to the point of exposing the soft tissue under it. In general the cat boy looked extremely malnourished, with many bones being prominently revealed even through the shirt. 

The hybrid scoots a little more towards Dream before hesitantly glancing back and forth between him and wherever else he could find a point to fixate on, Dream of course takes this in stride and smiles gently at him. “Thank you. I’ll be as careful as possible while I take it off. It might hurt a little bit since it's so tight but it should only take me a couple of minutes at most to get it off. And you can tell me to stop at any time ok?”

The smaller boy nods while slightly tensing up, most likely bracing for any pain. At this response Dream reaches forward, causing the hybrid to jolt back. “I’m gonna see if the buckle will unclasp first, and if it won’t then we can go from there. Ok?” 

At this the boy tensely nods, pupils blown out to huge round disks. Obviously terrified, his tail thumping against the floor behind him, so Dream moves his hands towards the buckle on the collar slowly, taking care not to make the same mistake of moving too fast. He lightly grabs the buckle of the collar, making sure not to pull at it too much. Thankfully the clasp unfastens with a small tug. 

As he pulls the belt through the buckle bit he notices small tremors coming from the boy, “doing ok?” he asks. The brunette faintly nods, trying not to move too much. Dream eventually gets the collar away from the boy’s skin and sets it down on the floor next to him, the collar was a heavy thick rubber based substance with a rough texture. ‘ _No wonder this thing did so much damage_ ’, Dream thought to himself.

  


He checks the skin on the hybrids neck where he wasn't able to see previously. As expected the skin was rubbed raw. Irritated shades of reds and pinks where the collar dug in, with pressure cut wounds where the weight of the collar sat the heaviest. 

“There we go, that's probably much better right? Now I'm gonna clean up those cuts with this spray here ok? It’ll sting a little but shouldn’t be too bad. You’ve been doing really well so far, thank you for letting me help you.” Dream says as he gets up and reaches for his antiseptic spray that he had pointed towards, along with a set of gauze swabs set on the cabinet to his side. The brunette pulled his arms tighter to his chest while nodding, he was still trembling so as dream shuffled over for the supplies that he needed, he reached out and grabbed the blanket that was hanging from the side of the bed and brought it over as well. As Dream sits back down he drapes the blanket across the brunette's shoulders, out of the way of his wound, but enough to stay put on the hybrid. Once Dream situated himself again he softly spoke again, “ok I'm gonna start cleaning it now, tell me if you need me to stop alright?” . 

The hybrid nods again, so Dream goes ahead and gets to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that a cat's pupils being dilated can be a sign of fear? it helps them take in the entire environment with the most light possible to have a better shot at survival.  
> Comments feed my motivation monster, all donations accepted. /lh


	4. Melting Glaciers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat time :)

After a bit of time and multiple breaks in between, Dream was able to successfully clean and bandage the hybrid’s neck. About half way into cleaning his wounds, the hybrid began to relax enough to start taking in more of his surroundings. Dream noticed him start to look around, occasionally glancing back at the blonde in the process.

After a while the brunette seemed to become a little bolder in his glances, and took to staring at Dream every now and again while he was working. It gave the blonde hope knowing that he wasn't being perceived as much of a threat anymore, at least for the moment. He could tell the hybrid was exhausted by the way his eyes were starting to droop, and guessed that the events leading up to him getting to this shelter were anything but easy. 

When Dream finished up, he leaned back onto his heels, causing the hybrid to snap back to reality and quickly look away. It was endearing to watch the brunette act as though he wasn't staring. 

Dream cleaned up the small mess he made and tossed it into the trash can nearby, and turned back to the smaller boy. “Alright, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, would you be ok with me helping you a little more with what’s hurting you? Once I finish, I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night.” 

  


The hybrid paused for a moment before slightly nodding, seemingly much more comfortable around the blonde than he was at the start of their time together. “Great, i’m gonna start with your arms first then ok?”. Dream receives a nod in response and falls back into his work mode, gently taking the brunette’s arm and assessing the damage. As he works, he starts speaking once more.

He talks about his day, what he ate for dinner, his trip to the beach, along with many other topics, keeping the hybrid’s attention on his words rather than the check up he was performing. Dream managed to successfully complete the majority of his check up with no issues, but met some resistance when he got to the hybrid’s abdomen. He noticed right off the bat that there seemed to be some minor scratches along with some swelling that was likely related right below the ribs, and when we went to check the area, the hybrid immediately shot his hand out to stop Dream from making contact with the swollen area.  
At this Dream stops and pulls his hands away. Making sure to respect the hybrid’s boundaries. “Do you know what happened here? Or did it just start hurting out of nowhere?” he asked as he moved to sit back.

The hybrid flicked his ears back, most likely thrown off by the fact that he was expected to answer verbally. He seemed to be struggling with himself on something, which caused Dream to worry that the boy might have been non-verbal. “Are you able to talk? it's alright if you can't.” he ventured to ask.

At this the brunette was brought back to reality and looked back to Dream, “y-yeah” the smaller boy uttered in a hoarse voice. At this, Dream slowly got off the floor, muttering a quick "one sec." making his way to the sink to grab a disposable cup and fill it in the sink. Dream could tell that the boy didn't use his voice very often, and decided to keep the questions to a minimum for the time being until the hybrid adjusted to using his voice again. “This should help,” Dream said as he handed him the water. 

The hybrid took a few tentative sips before speaking up again, “it just started hurting out of nowhere, it wasn't that bad at first but...” he murmured out while curling into himself a bit. With a start Dream realized the brunette had an accent, the new info took him by surprise but he was able to pull his focus back to what the brunette had said. 

“Do you know what kind of pain it feels like? For example does it burn or feel like a sharp stabbing pain?”. At this the brunette pauses to think, “It kind of burns, made it hard to eat when they gave us food.” at this new information and a couple of other questions of a similar vein, the blonde starts to form an idea of what it might be. “When did it start to hurt?” he asks. The brunette flicks his ear, “uhm, a little bit ago. I don't know how much time passed, sorry.” he finishes, looking away uncomfortably. 

“No that’s ok, I’m just trying to find out as much as I can so we can get this fixed quickly. I have an idea of what it might be but I’m gonna need to take some X-rays, is that ok? We have a portable one so I can bring it in here. You won’t have to leave the room if you don’t want to yet.” Dream says as he writes down what the hybrid said on a notepad for future reference.   
The brunette starts to look visibly uncomfortable by the idea but nods, so Dream takes this as an ok to leave the room to get the X-ray machine. “Alright I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. If you’re ok with it, could you hop on that bed for me? It’ll make it a lot easier and quicker to get those X-rays.” 

Dream pauses, mentally face palming. “By the way, is there something you would want to be called? I just realized I never got your name.” he finishes while turning to face the hybrid from the door with a sheepish smile. The brunette looks back towards the blonde while hopping onto the bed, as he registers the words he slightly curls back into himself again.

After a few seconds of contemplation, he seems to make his mind up and glances back to Dream with cautious resolution in his eyes. “It’s George.” he states.

At this Dream beams, “nice to meet you George. Thank you.” At this the brunette slightly tilts his head in confusion, “For what?”.  
Dream chuckles, “I don’t know, just for everything I guess. For telling me your name, for letting me help you, a bunch of stuff.” 

At this, George makes a pinched face. “Your welcome I guess?”. 

Dream chuckles and turns back towards the door to turn the knob. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” he says as he exits the room with a skip in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this far! i'm trying my hardest to stay at least semi-realistic with the medical so hopefully it isn't too bad lol.  
> as always if you have any questions feel free to pop them in the comments!


	5. Fogged Yet Clear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR THE 100 KUDOS AND 1000 HITS  
> Love you guys <3

As Dream made his way over towards the area where they stored the X-ray machine, he spotted Niki along the way. She looked pretty exhausted, which made sense as she was normally on the day shift, along with himself and Punz. They made up the medical wing for the most part during the weekdays, With the night shift being manned by Callahan and Ponk. Niki was the head of their department and the resident therapist, one of the essential backbones of their shelter. Dream was glad that he could call her one of his close work friends.

“Dream! How is everything going? Were you able to get anywhere with the hybrid?” Niki asked as she caught up to him.

“Yeah, I was able to get him to trust me enough to take care of his injuries. I’m actually grabbing the X-ray to finish his assessment now. I’m pretty sure he has some peptic ulcers based on what he told me, but I want to get a scan to make sure and figured he would be more open to an X-ray than an endoscope.” He said with a yawn.

“Yeah that honestly sounds like the best bet. You were able to get him to talk then?” she said as they made their way around a corner. “Yeah, although that was a very recent development. He said his name was George, he also had a pretty heavy accent. I think it was British? Definitely European if it’s not.”

“Gotcha, I’ll check the records for a missing hybrid under that name from the UK data banks as soon as I can. I’ll let you get back to it then, intercom me if you need me. I’ll probably be here for another three or four hours.” she answered as she split off from dream and headed towards one of the doors in the hall.

“Will do.” Dream replied before focusing back on his task to grab the machine. 

A couple of minutes later and Dream is back at the door of George’s assigned room. He knocks and waits a few seconds before entering, giving the hybrid a chance to react before he went in.

As Dream enters, he sees George sitting at the edge of the bed, ears perked straight upwards. He pulls the machine in behind him, bringing it closer to the small counter area that serves as the doctor’s station. “I’m back, hopefully I didn’t make you wait too long?” he asks as he sets up the device.

The hybrid shakes his head, “No, s’fine.” he lightly slurs, the sleep in his voice apparent. Dream turns to him and smiles, “ That’s good to hear, now let's get you through these X-rays so that you can get some rest, yeah?”.

The brunette nods and shifts closer to the edge of the bed, waiting for Dream’s instructions. “Alright let’s get started.” 

After roughly 20 minutes of X-rays, which consisted of Dream positioning George into place for his scans, they finally get enough scans to satisfy the blonde. As Dream had expected, he found 2 ulcers in the hybrid’s stomach, one of which seemed to be slightly worse off than the other. Dream also found evidence of a healed over broken leg that seemed to have been a clean break, so thankfully there wasn’t a need to worry there.

With this new knowledge in mind, Dream decided that the best course of action would probably be to start off with a less invasive treatment and if the situation called for it, then he would step up the treatment at the hospital that they were partnered with. 

As it stood, the ulcers weren’t to the point of being an immediate issue, but most definitely were the cause for the hybrid’s discomfort. He decided to go ahead and put the hybrid on some antibiotics, with frequent check ins, and go from there.  
With a plan laid out, Dream relayed the information to George, ensuring that the brunette was on the same page to keep things going as smoothly as possible.

“How did I even get them?” George asks, flicking his tail back and forth over the mattress.

“Uh, The bacteria that causes it is usually picked up from food or water, usually when those things are in an unhygienic environment. And stress can definitely speed up the process since your immune system would be lower. But we can kill it off using an antibiotic easy enough, which will let everything heal and that should be the end of it.” the blonde explains.

“M’kay.” the smaller boys murmurs, “lets get those antibiotics for you and then I’ll get out of your hair.” the blonde says as he smiles tiredly. “Do you want any extra blankets or anything else while i’m out?” he asks the hybrid as he starts towards the door.

George shakes his head, curling back in on himself again. At this Dream nods and takes his leave, already set on bringing some more blankets just in case.

He makes his way over to their internal pharmacy and grabs the required medicines, both the antibiotic and a pain reliever that would pair well with no issues. He then stops by one of their storage closets to grab the fluffiest blankets that they had on hand, before making his way back to where George was.

He knocks once again and waits to enter, before heading back in. As he makes his way inside he sees the hybrid pause, his ears straining back.

“I know you said no to any extra blankets but I still wanted you to have the option for later if you change your mind, you don’t have to use them if you don’t want to of course but they’ll be here.” Dream says as he sets the blankets down at the foot of the bed.

“And i’ve got your medicine here, this pill is the antibiotic and this one is a pain killer.” he explains while pointing to each pill respectively. 

At this the hybrid nods and takes the pills offered. Dream hands him a new cup of water before taking the rest of the pills and storing them in the top cabinet. These cabinets were customized so that they were only able to be accessed by a key that each medical wing staff member had on them at all times. This helped keep all the medications close to their patients while keeping them safely away.

“Alright, that's all for tonight, is there anything you need before I leave?” the blonde asks. And as he expected the hybrid shook his head again, so Dream went through a mental checklist of anything the hybrid might need over the night to make sure the brunette would be comfortable, since he knew the hybrid wouldn’t be likely to voice his requests even if he had them.

“Oh by the way, if you need the restroom, it's right across the hall. You got really lucky with this room placement in that aspect huh. It’s a family style restroom too, so you won’t need to deal with any other people. Your door is always unlocked as well, so don’t worry about getting locked out or anything like that.”

The hybrid blearily nods, looking as though he’s going to pass out as soon as the blonde leaves. So with that Dream heads to the door, “Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow morning” Dream softly says as he smiles towards George. He then heads out, turning the main light off as he exits. The wall mounted light under the cabinets bathes the room in a calm dim glow, reminiscent to a nightlight. 

He checks back in with Niki in her office, and she sends him home to get some rest. With the sudden influx of new arrivals at the shelter, he went ahead and shelved his next day off to use on another day.

He wanted to make sure George had someone that he somewhat trusted to get him settled and comfortable, and knew that he was the only one so far that fit the role. 

So if he worked a few more days on his schedule then so be it, at least he knew that it was well worth the time put in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah so after researching for this fic, I now know for sure that I would never want to be a medical professional, like how tf do they keep all this information stored in their heads oh my god.  
> I hope you liked this small education lesson lmao, who'd have thunk you would be learning about gut bacteria in a dnf fanfic amirite.  
> All jokes aside this should be the last of the medical stuffed chapters, finally onto the good shit.


	6. Second Frost

Dream woke up to the sound of his alarm going off, groggily he palmed under his pillow until he found his phone. As he brought it up to his face, he paused in confusion. The day displayed on his phone was Sunday, he didn’t work Sundays.

As he slowly came out of his fog of drowsiness, he tried to figure out how his phone somehow deviated from its scheduled alarm settings, and shot up in bed when he remembered the events of last night. ‘Right’ he thought to himself. ‘The raid that happened downtown’.

He shifted to the edge of the bed, getting up and preparing for the day ahead at the shelter. 

Once Dream made his way through the automatic sliding doors of the entrance, he was greeted by the receptionist. As he passed, Dream gave a greeting of his own, swiping his keycard to head further in.

He made his way over to his office, which was towards the middle of the building. All of the office spaces were centered in this area, this allowed for staff to make their way to any of the wings of the shelter with ease. 

The shelter had 4 wings in total, those being the medical wing, the social wing, the housing wing and the adoption wing.

The medical wing was pretty self explanatory, it was for the medical care of hybrids, whether that be therapy, injury, behavioral classes, etc. 

The social wing was the communal area where all of the hybrids were free to socialize, enjoy activities, etc. this wing is also where the food court was located.

The housing wing was where all the hybrid residents of the shelter had their own rooms for when they wanted privacy, and the adoption wing was where the hybrids that were ready to find new homes would be able to meet and interact with potential adopters. The adoption wing was the only one accessible to the general public, with all the other wings being staff only to ensure that the hybrids had the best experience during their recovery. 

The offices were clustered by wing, so Dream’s office was next to Punz and Callahan, with Niki being down the hall. Bad also had an office near them, though you would probably never catch him there. He was usually on the go throughout the building, being the manager meant never sitting still for too long, even on a slow day. Their shelter was on the smaller scale but it was pretty well known by the city folk for being one of the best. 

Dream was proud to have been working here when they achieved that title. When he first started Bad was only a staff member in the social wing, but was appointed to the manager position when the previous guy retired. The shelter took a sharp turn for the better once Bad was able to make some much needed changes.

The blonde makes his way into his office, laying his coat on an old waiting room chair. He logs into his computer, taking care of all his immediate online tasks as quickly as he could. Dream was very intent on getting back to the brunette he was caring for last night as soon as he could, he wanted to make sure that everything was still ok with the hybrid and was hoping to take care of the boy's ear that he was constantly flicking back today.

Another thing on the list was getting him clean, he was still in the clothes they found him in. Dream didn’t want to risk setting off the brunette last night while he was hurt so he opted to not attempt a wardrobe change, but it definitely needed to get done.

So with that, Dream finished up his office tasks and locked up, making his way over to the assignments board to grab the hybrids info that he had left the night before and then headed to George's assigned room. 

When he got to the room, he knocked on the door. The blonde was wanting to establish a pattern for the hybrid to catch onto, he hoped that the consistency would help the hybrid grow accustomed to his presence a little quicker.

Dream opened the door to find a mound of blankets, which made the edges of his mouth jump up into a smile. He closed the door and made his way to the cabinet with the hybrid’s medications. “G’morning, did you sleep well? I passed out as soon as I got home. Yesterday was something else huh.” he says as he fills a cup with water. The larger boy watched as the mass of blankets slightly shifted, before stilling again.

“I’ve got your medicine here," he says while shaking the bottles to make a soft rattling noise. "could you sit up really quickly and take them for me?” Dream asks, hoping that the brunette will come out of his cocoon of his own will.

After about a minute of silence Dream sighs and tries again. “Please, we’ve gotta deal with those sores in your stomach, I won’t feel comfortable leaving you in here until you take them.” he attempts again.

he waits for a couple of moments again, there is no response, so he takes a step forward. “Come on buddy, I know that those painkillers are probably wearing off at this point.” he says while gently gripping the top blanket, slowly pulling it to the side. “It’ll only take a seco-” He gets cut off by a sharp growl, causing the blonde to drop the blanket and take a step back. At this Dream huffs. “Oh come on, don’t be like that please, I promise I’m just trying to help you. You’re safe here.” he says over the growling. “I’m not going to make you come out of those blankets, but I'm also not leaving until I know that you’ve taken your medicine ok? Did those pills make you feel worse? Is that why you don’t want to take them? We can change the kind of medicine if that's why.” he says while taking a seat on the stool that was next to the counter. 

“y'know, there was this one time as a kid that I got sick after eating some out of date food and the medicine that my mom gave me made me even worse.” he said, pushing through the growling with his own chatter. 

“I still remember how freaked out she got when the stuff she gave me to keep me from throwing up did the opposite. She took me straight to the ER and we had to sit in that tiny waiting room for hours.” he laughed, continuing the story for a good five or so minutes as the hybrid slowly came to a stop with the growls.

Dream goes on yet another story telling spiel, listing off anything and everything. Eventually he catches movement from the corner of his eye. As he looked over towards the bed, he noticed the small brunette turn towards him, glaring out from under the covers. The blonde continues to prattle on about whatever comes to mind, occasionally glancing at the hybrid as if he were having a conversation with him. 

Eventually after a while the hybrid sits up, still burrito'd in the blankets and still looking pissed off, but much more alert and responsive than he was earlier so Dream counts it as a win. Dream finishes up his train of thought in the conversation and smoothly switches topics. “Are you good with taking those pills? Or were they actually making things worse like I said earlier? I meant it when I said I could change the kind of medication for you.” he says while smiling kindly towards the hybrid.

The smaller boy huffs, “s’fine, just give me them.” he says in a groggy voice, ears flicking back in annoyance. At this dream chuckles, “here you go, thank you for taking them.” 

As George takes the pills, Dream starts gently swaying slightly side to side. “By the way, do you have any kinds of foods that you don’t like or are allergic to? They’ll be serving breakfast in like, twelve minutes and I can go grab some stuff for you to eat.” Dream mentions to the brunette as he hands him a cup of water. “Not really.” he replies, short and simple.

“Alright hmmm, is there anything that you do like that you want me to keep an eye out for?” Dream asks, hoping to get something better to work with.

George sits there and watches the blonde intently for a moment, scanning the blonde's face. “why do you even care, I’ll eat whatever you bring me, its food.” he answers slowly, as if preparing for an adverse reaction from the larger boy.

At this response, Dream’s mood saddens, the fact that the boy feels so baffled from the concept of somebody caring about his likes and dislikes pains him. “I care because everyone deserves to enjoy the things they like the most. If someone tells me that they like something, I'm gonna do everything in my power to get them that thing when I can. I don't see it as a bother or anything, if it makes them just a little bit happier, then it's worth it.” he finishes looking towards George the entire time, hoping that the hybrid can see that he means it.

The hybrid glances away, lost in thought contemplating something. He then huffs and starts to speak. “When I was younger, my first owner would always get me strawberry milk, prattling off about it helping me to grow stronger. I remember liking that, but that's all I can really think of right now.” he says while keeping his eyes trained on the wall to his right. His ears flicked down a little bit as though he was uncomfortable from the vunerability, pulling the blanket more over his shoulders as he fidgeted. 

“Oh! we definitely have that here, I'll make sure to grab you one then.” the blonde says with a smile. I’ll go ahead and grab some food for you then, in the meantime while i’m gone would you wash your hands in the sink here? I’m sure you don't want to touch your food with whatever they had on them before you got here, yeah?” 

George nods, looking back towards the blonde, and away again. “Thank you.”

At this Dream couldn’t resist repeating what the brunette told him the night before, “for what?” he says with a lighthearted and joking tone. The hybrid pauses in confusion before catching on and huffing. “For everything I guess, being so nice and helping me, a bunch of stuff.” he says in a monotone voice with a little eye roll and flopping back under the blanket.

This causes Dream to laugh, turning to the door. “You’re welcome George. There's no way that I wouldn't have done all of that, you deserve it” he says as genuinely as he can, hoping the hybrid can hear the truth in his words.

“Alright i’m gonna go grab you some food, be back in a bit.” he cheerfully says as he leaves, heading towards the food court.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Persistence in some rare cases can indeed be key.  
> also seriously thank you for all the kudos and hits! I genuinely thought that this would flop. I appreciate you!


	7. A/N

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :)

Just a Quick a/n to say thank you for making it this far!  
I'll be trying to update as regularly as possible!  
Also I draw art here: https://passion-fruit-fashion.tumblr.com/ If you want to come say hi or toss me some art suggestions to do in my free time :D  
Ok I'll let you get back to your 3am scrolling .


	8. Morning Dew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally get the poor guy out of the exam room :)

When Dream got back to George’s assigned room he knocked and entered. The food court was chaotic as usual but he was able to secure everything he set out for with little to no issue. He ended up getting himself some food as well, everything secured on a large tray for ease of transport. Dream hoped that the hybrid would be ok with them eating together, both so that Dream could monitor his intake as well as just hoping to chat with him. 

At Dream’s entrance, George untangled himself from his blankets and scooted towards the edge of the bed. He seemed much more awake and in better spirits than when the blonde had left, which Dream was thankful for. The hybrid was still watching him warily but that was to be expected all things considered. 

Dream set the tray on the counter before pulling out a small foldable table that was similar in size to a tv tray and set it out for the hybrid to easily reach. He then turned to grab his own food and sit on the stool. Dream decided to start George off with a simple to digest meal, some scrambled eggs with a slice of toast as well as a small portion of apple sauce for a sweet treat. At the very top of the tray was a carton of strawberry milk, as well as a cup of water. 

When he started laying everything out he noticed the apprehension on the hybrid’s face and quickly stepped in to try and quell his stress. “ I don’t expect you to eat all of this, I don't even think I would be able to eat all of this if I were in the same position. I just want you to try and eat a little of everything if you can, that way you can get a good range of nutrients in.” he explains. “I also got some food as well, I'll eat over here by the cabinet and stay out of the way, that ok?”

The hybrid takes a moment and nods, then reaches for a fork, glancing at the blonde before taking a bit of the egg. Dream then starts to dig into his own food, hoping to keep the air light as they eat. In between bites Dream would start little conversations, filling the silence and talking a little bit about the shelter, hoping to slightly familiarize the brunette with stories to make the transition a little easier on him.

While they ate, the blonde noticed that George was taking time to savor the strawberry milk, trying to make it last as long as he could during his meal, so Dream decided to make it his mission to get a carton of the milk for the brunette for the next upcoming breakfasts.

Once they finished eating, Dream took their plates and ran them back to the food court and swiftly came back to try and get down to business. He takes the hybrid’s vitals with relative ease, and is able to acquire a blood sample with only a brief stint of resistance before George allowed him to.

Dream was eventually able to check the hybrid’s ears and noticed a heavily matted clump in the ear that George was constantly flicking back tugging on the inside of his ear, most likely the cause of the irritation. With that info, he set to removing it with some scissors and a steady hand. The hybrid was reluctant at first, not wanting the blonde anywhere near him with a sharp object, but eventually came around from the promise of relief.

Once he removed the matted fur, Dream set to cleaning the brunette's ears and checked the smaller boy’s head for any injuries he might have missed under the hair. Thankfully there weren’t any issues, so Dream put away his supplies and turned back to the hybrid.

“Alright, I think that’s all we need to do in here, how about we get you to your new room? It’ll have its own bathroom and it’s completely your own space, no roommates.” Dream says, pushing his dirty blonde hair to the side.

The hybrid immediately looks on edge, curling in on himself in discomfort. “It’ll be a short walk, and you won't have to move any more rooms once you’re set up there. It’s also a lot nicer than in here, way less medical supplies” 

They sit in silence for a few minutes while the hybrid processes the new info, and he hesitantly nods, wrapping his arms around himself.

“Ok, do you want me to bring these blankets to you later?” he gestures to the mound of fabric. He received another nod from the brunette, looking to the floor nervously. “Alright, let's head out then.”  
At his movement the brunette sunk further into the bed, clearly not wanting to leave what he deemed as safety. 

Dream slowly walks towards George before stopping in front of him and extending his hand for the hybrid to grab onto. And with a moment more of hesitance, he grabs the blonde’s hand in a loose grip. George’s hands were freezing, most likely from nervousness, so Dream took some time to warm them up in his own hands and try his best to reassure the brunette before they set off. The repetitive gesture seemed to put the hybrid a little more at ease, with his ears twitching back up every now and then, tail swishing behind him with a little less agitation.

Dream led the brunette to the door and opened it, and right away the hybrid started to tremble and pulled back, trying to stay in the room. Dream decided to take a risk. He walked back in, coming up right next to the hybrid and drew the smaller boy gently under his arm. The goal was to help the hybrid feel more protected, less vulnerable.

“This ok?” he asks, looking down towards the smaller boy with a kind smile and gentle eyes.

The brunette was clearly taken aback, jolting and leaning away at the first point of contact, but quickly recovered and adjusted to the new situation. He took some time to process, but nodded and slightly leaned back into the blonde, taking in deep breaths to calm himself down. After a pause to allow George a moment of stability, he lightly squeezed the hybrid's shoulder. “Alright, let’s try that again.” the blonde chuckles softly as he opens the door back up.

This time when they start to walk forward, George squishes himself as closely as he can to Dream, still trembling, but instilled with more resolve from having the blonde to lean on as a safety net.

They make their way down the hallway with no issue, George sticking close to Dream’s side as they go. The smaller hybrid wouldn’t even look around at his surroundings, instead focusing on the floor in front of him. 

Once they made it to the housing wing, they headed to the staff desk that was located by the entrance. Dream waved to the staff and asked them for the keycard to George’s new room which they gladly passed over to the blonde. During all of this, the smaller boy was burying himself into Dream’s side, trying to draw as little attention as possible to himself. The staff noticed this of course and did their best to not acknowledge the hybrid, hoping that it would put the brunette a little more at ease. 

With access to the room keys, Dream led George down one of the hallways. The housing area was modeled much like a college dorm, with rooms lined one after another with a number and a name next to each door. The hybrids that lived there had the opportunity to decorate their name plaques and add smaller decor to their doors, so there was a nice spattering of color and personality along the way. After a small amount of walking they stopped at one of the doors, George's name already on the plaque. Dream took the key he had received and unlocked the door, gently nudging the hybrid inside.

Even when Dream closed the door the smaller hybrid didn't budge from his place under the blonde’s arm, so he decided to walk over to the bed that was set up for the brunette. The room was a small studio sized area with a queen bed in the corner on a low bed frame, the sheets draping down, allowing for easy access for any injured hybrids. Across from the bed was a small desk with some crafting supplies stocked, along with a small digital clock, and next to that was a small wardrobe closet with a small tv on a stand next to it. Right by the front door was a cube shaped protrusion of wall that held the small bathroom.

As they made it to the bed, the blonde gently pulled the hybrid away which caused the smaller boy to grip tighter. Dream huffs lightheartedly, “we’re here now, it’s safe for you to let go, I promise. Do you want to check it out? This space is all yours, so don’t worry about anyone else bothering you.”

It takes a few minutes but eventually the smaller boy calms down enough to turn his head to the side, taking in his surroundings. He eventually works up the courage to pull away from Dream’s chest and take a formal look around. Dream watches as the hybrid swivels his ears around, most likely taking in the new sounds that the space around them emits. He stays still, acting as the brunette’s anchor as he adjusts to all of the new stimulus that he was ushered into. 

Once Dream noticed George start to relax, he started to speak again. “This place will be yours for as long as you’re here ok? You can add whatever you want to it, if there's something you want me to get for this place I'll try my best to find it. Does that sound ok to you?” he finishes as he watches the hybrid for a confirmation. George was still looking around as the blonde was talking, stopping to briefly nod when he finished. Dream then started to formulate a plan for the best way to go about this.

He took a little bit of time to chatter about whatever came to mind, trying to create a sense of normalcy to help the smaller boy get used to the room a little easier. That was one perk of being a streamer he supposed, the ability to carry a conversation with himself, no outside input required. 

After a while of this, he decided to try his luck. “Ok, before I leave you to relax until lunch, would you be ok with me helping you get cleaned up? You can use either the shower or the bath. I’m sure it’s not very comfortable being covered in dirt and whatever else that might be mixed in.” he murmurs, hoping to maintain the peaceful setting they were currently in.

As he expected, the hybrid did not react well to the question being asked, though this time he was met with more fear than with what he encountered when patching the smaller boy up previously. He continued with caution, “We can make it quick, and after this you can take care of cleaning up by yourself. I just need to help you this one time to make sure that I didn't miss anything during the check up. And I’ll need to re-wrap your injuries, but after that we would be done.” He gently pressed on.

George was reluctant but after a while of reassuring the hybrid, Dream was able to get him to agree. They made their way over to the small bathroom. Inside was a bathtub/ shower combo, along with a toilet and a sink. The sink had a small mirror above it mounted to the wall. Dream set to preparing a bath while George sat on the lid of the toilet watching with apprehension, the blonde then set to removing the bandages, and once the bath was drawn Dream left the bathroom for the hybrid to disrobe and get in with some privacy. After a few minutes the blonde knocked on the door, “Is it ok to come in now?”.

There was a faint sound of water being disturbed before he received a faint “yes” from inside. He entered again, and the hybrid was submerged nearly to his nose from how far down he sunk in the tub. Dream opted for a more bubbly foam style soap to help the hybrid feel more covered.

He made his way over to the edge of the tub, prompting the smaller boy to sink further into the water. Dream grabbed the shampoo and kneeled down, “ok I’m gonna start with your hair, I’ll try and keep it away from your face.” he said gently as he popped the cap of the bottle. 

George nods, so Dream reaches forward and gets started. His mood was slightly dampened by the fact that all he was able to get from the hybrid were non-verbal or very little spoken responses but he knew that it would take time to get him comfortable enough to come out of his shell. So far George had been doing pretty well in terms of allowing the blonde to assist him, he was scared that the smaller hybrid might have completely shut down to any help and fought him any time he came close, but thankfully that didn’t seem to be the case. 

Dream worked quickly and efficiently, staying true to his promise earlier. He started with shampoo and conditioner since they were centered in one area and let the hybrid grow used to the touch, and once he was finished with that he moved on to a body wash. Once Dream had scrubbed the smaller boy’s arms and torso he moved back towards his neck.

The smaller boy was slightly trembling again, blatantly distressed from the physical contact. He had tilted his head down, most likely trying to make himself look smaller. 

“I’m gonna need you to look up for me while I clean your neck ok? I’ll need to see it a little better so that I don't accidentally hurt you.” the blonde murmured as he assessed the injuries he was able to see. 

George nodded and tilted his head back up, before subconsciously pulling it back down as Dream reached forward. He decided to lightly tip the smaller boy’s head back up by nudging the knuckles of his fingers under the brunette’s jaw, hoping that the hybrid didn’t react negatively. 

Thankfully the smaller boy didn’t seem to mind too much, stilling his movements as the blonde brought the washcloth he was using to his neck. He was able to clean the area with no issues, George relaxing a little into Dreams hand as he worked.

After some time he was able to clean off the hybrid, for the most part everything went smoothly, with the only points of issue being that George refused to let the blonde anywhere near his nether regions and certain points of sensitivity. The blonde expected as much and let the smaller boy take care of cleaning any areas that he didn’t want Dream near, with the compromise that dream could still visually assess him for any injuries. 

With a couple of tense or awkward moments in between, they were able to finish up and get George wrapped up in a towel. Dream grabbed the hybrid some fresh clothing from his wardrobe, it was a simple light blue pullover along with some heathered grey sweatpants and simple boxer briefs. The clothes were provided through donations, most items being edited to suit the needs of whatever hybrids they were given to. He left the hybrid to change into his clothes in the bathroom as he made his way over to the tv, turning it on and flipping to a random show. The room was filled with a nice background noise, allowing for a more upbeat vibe.

He then made his way to the bed, plopping down and pulling out his clipboard to log everything he needed to from earlier in the day as well as his assessment from a moment ago.

George came out of the bathroom shortly after, scanning the room and once his eyes landed on the blonde, he hesitantly made his way over. Dream smiled at this and continued writing, humming as he went, the brunette taking his own place on the bed. Dream noticed the hybrid slightly stretching his body upwards from the corner of his eye and realized that the brunette was trying to look over the blonde’s shoulder. This made the corner of his mouth twitch with amusement, he was glad that George was reacting things around him with such curiosity, rather than being in a state of detachment as so many hybrids that came through the doors tended to be.

Dream took some time to finish up his notes before raising his arms up in a stretch and standing up. He turned to the hybrid who was sitting with his legs crossed on the bed looking back toward him, “That's about all I needed to do here, so I’ll give you time for yourself now. Do you have any questions or things you want to talk about before I go?” .

The brunette shakes his head, lightly tapping his tail to the mattress as he glances around. “Alright, I’ll be out and about in the building but I'll be back with lunch at about noon. If you need me you can ask the people down the hall at the desk we got your keys from and they can call me over, that sound ok?” he asks. George flicks his ears back, most likely from the prospect of leaving the room, but nods nonetheless.

Dream mentally makes a note to get something for the hybrid to get a hold of him without leaving, since he can tell that the brunette most likely wouldn’t go out to the service desk even if he did need Dream. ‘Maybe a walkie talkie or a pager could work’, he thinks to himself.

“I’ll see you in two hours then.” Dream says as he makes his way to the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! as always if you have any questions or critiques, feel free to pop them in the comments. this is my first time writing a fic ever so the feedback is appreciated.
> 
> <3
> 
> ALSO! I've made some art for this chapter! You can see it  
> [ here ](https://passion-fruit-fashion.tumblr.com/post/645520365692616704/show-chapter-archive)
> 
> Or if the link doesn't work here  
> https://passion-fruit-fashion.tumblr.com/post/645520365692616704/show-chapter-archive
> 
> Tw for bruising


End file.
